


Quarantine

by rudbeckia



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Hallucinations, Illnesses, Kylux Cantina, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-19
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-03-21 10:12:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13738671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rudbeckia/pseuds/rudbeckia
Summary: For the Kylux Cantina prompt: ContagionThere’s a disease spreading through The Finalizer. It’s one the medical database has not encountered which means there is no cure. Hux declares a ship-wide quarantine, and the Supreme Leader is not exempt.





	Quarantine

Hux cursed inventively at the new messages lighting up his datapad. He filtered them to find the one that might be good news. Ah! There! _Medical analysis of infectious disease UNKN0214._ He tapped to expand the message, read it then threw the datapad across the room. It hit the wall corner-first and the transparent plastoid screen warped. He cursed again.

“Careful, Hux,” said Kylo Ren with a smirk, “that your personal interests not interfere with the wishes of your supreme leader.”  
“Fuck off, Kylo,” snapped Hux. “Unless you have some latent healing powers you can activate, you’re no use to me right now. This disease is similar to one that has been documented in the medical records from imperial times, but there is no cure until the exact pathogen is sequenced. All the medibay staff can do is attempt to alleviate the symptoms until the affected crew members either get better or die. You see these?” Hux brandished another datapad, new messages scrolling almost too fast to follow. “These are the sicknotes! At this rate The Finalizer won’t be able to function. The rate of contagion is only going to slow once we’re all sick and dying. Ugh. I have declared a ship-wise emergency lockdown. Everyone who has been within six metres of an infected person must be confined to quarters before this hits the living areas, and absolutely no officer or enlisted crew member is going anywhere in case they spread it to one of the other star destroyers. Imagine this epidemic on The Supremacy! Ugh!”

Ren stood up and brushed down his clothing. “Well, general,” he said. “You’re no fun tonight. I will not take any more of your valuable time. I will return to my own chambers and... and... ah... ah... AH... CHOOO!”

If it was possible for Hux’s expression to slip further into misery, he’d be submerged and drowning in it. He cursed again, this time at Ren but more softly.  
“Damnit, Kylo! Who did you catch it from? I want them executed for treason. Double treason if I catch it from you.”  
Ren laughed. “Don’t be dramatic, Hux. I feel fine. Probably sneezed on some dust the filters didn’t scrub from the ah... ah.... AH....ACHOOO! Atmosphere. The atmosphere.”  
Hux banged this datapad down on the desk so hard that the _crack!_ made Ren’s head spike with pain. “You are the Supreme Leader!” said Hux. “You will SET an EXAMPLE!” Hux pointed at Ren but stood back. “Neither you nor I may leave this suite until you are recovered and I have proved myself immune. The incubation period appears to be,” Hux consulted another datapad, “four days. From what the medibay staff have recorded, if you have contracted the illness you will spend three days thinking you’re fine and fighting it off, three days thinking you’re dying and three days recovering. If you survive that far.”

Ren shook his head but stopped because it made him dizzy. “Hux,” he said, “I can’t—“  
“Who commands this star destroyer?” Hux raised an eyebrow at Ren.  
“I’m the Supreme Leader!” protested Ren, voice cracking into a hoarse whisper. He tried again, “I’m the. Supreme. Leader.”  
“Yes,” said Hux as if he was talking to a particularly stubborn child. “But who commands The Finalizer?” Ren rolled his eyes and pointed at Hux.  
“You do.”  
“Well then,” said Hux. “I command you to stop whining out excuses and go to bed. You’re sick, Kylo, and not in the fun way. Day three or four, I estimate. How long have you been feeling off and not telling me?”  
Kylo Ren said nothing, but his eyes conveyed _oh fuck off Hux_ pretty effectively.

Hux ordered Ren to bed and Ren went. Alone. It was too late for Hux to be able to obey his own six metre exclusion zone rule properly, but he’d do his best under the circumstances. While Ren snuggled into Hux’s comfortable king bed, Hux ordered Kayfour to bring him a blanket and disinfect every surface, then he curled up on his sofa. Kayfour fussed until Hux ordered the protocol droid to go recharge, but relented and requested tarine tea, extra strong with double syrup. He sat up, bleary of eye and unfocused of brain, sipping his hot, sweet drink but unable to taste it, wondering why his throat felt so dry and if maybe he should comm tech about the air scrubbers.

Then the steam from his insulated mug got up his nose and he sneezed. The force of it made his head feel like someone was cracking his skull open with a mallet and he saw swirling sparks in the air. He sneezed again. Hux looked towards the door to the passage that led to his bedroom—there was a chance the Supreme Leader hadn’t heard. He would overcome this illness! He would beat it with strength of character, stubbornness and mild analgesia. He would set an example of what it meant to be a commanding officer. He was too important to take time off for anything less than his own—

“Uuugh Hux! You’re making my head hurt worse. Stop thinking you’re special and come to bed. That is a direct order from your Supreme Leader.”

Hux looked up at Ren, hunched over in the doorway, hair hanging around his cheeks and jawline. If only he felt better, thought Hux, he’d find the sight alluring. Ren laughed and shook his head then retreated back to bed. Hux picked up another datapad and his comlink so that he could send a message to his command team. He thought about what to say, took a sip of tea, pinched his nose for a second to chase away the tingle and spoke as clearly as he could.

_This is General Hux. I order all commanding officers to take all possible precautions to avoid this minor contagion and remain fit for duty. Peavey—reassign command duties across all qualified, fit and able officers as necessary. Opan—you will assume responsibility for ensuring compliance with quarantine procedures amongst command crew. Liaise with Peavey. Requisition a medidroid with a diagnostic kit and a sanitation team. Lock down the bridge if all current duty staff are uninfected. The Supreme Leader and I will be in conference for the next few days while we try to... to... AH... HAH... CHOOOO! ohkriffinghell... to find a solution to this problem.”_

He waited for replies. Peavey’s was a short acknowledgment and Opan’s included a _get well soon_ message. Hux sneezed again, pressed the heels of his hands to his temples and groaned. He finished his tea, got up unsteadily and dragged himself through to his bedroom where he heaved himself onto the bed next to Ren and fell asleep almost instantly.

When Hux woke, he was sure this sickness was not the mild inconvenience the old imperial medical records suggested. His head actually _throbbed_ and his throat burned. It hurt to swallow and there seemed to be insufficient oxygen in the recirculated air although his life support readouts told him the atmosphere was normal. Kayfour brought tea, extra strong with syrup, and a bright, cheerful bedside manner.  
“Oh good morning sirs! I took the liberty of requesting a visit from a medic but they are rather overwhelmed and sent a service droid instead with a selection of approved pharmaceuticals.”  
“Kayfour please be quiet.”  
“I do apologise, sir. They sent a selection of analgesics, a decongestant spray, a bottle of anaesthetic throat gargle, a—”  
“Clank off, ‘droid!”  
“Sir!”

Kayfour shuffled out. Ren stirred and groaned. Hux pushed himself up to sit, steadied his spinning head and sipped his tea. Suddenly too warm, he pushed the covers aside and sighed as air cooled his bare legs.  
“Huuux,” Ren’s voice was a croak. “Did you turn the thermostat down again? It’s freezing!”  
Hux lacked the energy to argue. “If you’re cold,” he said, annoyed by the persistent gravel in his own voice, “get in the sanisteam.”  
“Better idea,” said Ren, hand reaching for Hux. “You’re too hot. I”m too cold. Come here.”  
“There is no way,” said Hux as he pushed Ren’s clammy hand off his thigh, “that I am risking our disease-ridden corpses being found clinging to one another. Pathetic.”  
“We’re not gonna die,” replied Ren. “Nobody else has.”  
“So far. Take this,” said Hux, patting Ren’s hand then passing him a blister pack of analgesic capsules and the remains of his tea. “Mine are starting to work already. This illness doesn’t seem to be affecting me as badly as the other officers. I’m getting up to check on Opan and Peavey.” Hux swung his legs out of bed and stood up. He swayed a little then sat down again, clutching his head as if he was afraid it might topple off his neck. “On second thoughts,” he said. “Bed is fine. Kayfour can bring my datapads through. I feel well enough to do desk work.”

 

Hux wasn’t entirely sure what happened from that point and for the next three days, and his protocol ‘droid wasn’t about to provide any information. Kayfour insisted that he had been sworn to secrecy by Hux himself on threat of a complete memory wipe and personality reset. Kayfour even provided Hux with a codeword that convinced Hux that he had indeed, in a moment of delirium, threatened his own protocol ‘droid. All Kayfour would divulge was that the Supreme Leader’s fever broke a day earlier and he had helped care for Hux during the worst of his hallucinations.

Aghast, Hux stared at the expressionless face of his ‘droid.  
“Hallucinations?” he repeated. “When?”  
“Yesterday,” Ren’s voice sailed over Kayfour’s shiny head, “and half the night. You finally stopped raving at about three in the morning.”  
“And you—“  
“Heard every word of your perfectly logical plans to take over the entire galaxy with two star destroyers and a half ton of kyber microcrystals. And your fantastic ideas for how to fight off the flock of miniature hssiss that were attacking you every time you closed you eyes but vanished when you opened them. And you informed me that you like me very much at least eighteen times—”  
“Oh _fuck!”_  
“—in a single hour. After that—“  
“STOP! Please. Stop.”  
“—you told me all the things you’d do to show your gratitude for my kindness in taking care of you. Some of them were quite adventurous.”

Hux hid his burning face in the sheet. Ren laughed. “Don’t worry, general. Nobody knows and I have no intention of telling. Get in the sanisteam. You’re not well enough to leave your chambers yet but you look terrible and smell worse.”  
“Ugh,” replied Hux, pulling his sweat-soiled shirt away from his body. “I will make myself presentable then check on Opan and Peavey. I don’t suppose either of them thought to report to you?” Ren shrugged. “Well then. I am sure I will have stacks of datapads to sort through.”

Ren only had to steady Hux twice on the short trip to the ‘fresher. When Hux emerged, Kayfour had clean pyjamas waiting and informed Hux that the Supreme Leader had gone to his own quarters to rest and that a meal had arrived for him. Hux walked slowly through to his living room and perched on the sofa, sipping the protein shake that Kayfour offered him.  
“So you know what nonsense I talked while I was sick?” he said.  
Kayfour paused as if considering then answered, “Yes, sir.”  
“And I ordered you not to repeat any of it?”  
“Indeed! You were most clear on the consequences should I fail you in that respect, sir!” Kayfour pottered around, making and serving tea.  
“Was the Supreme Leader similarly afflicted?” asked Hux, picking up his insulated mug and inhaling the vapour, a smile pulling at his mouth.  
“Oh, yes sir!” said Kayfour, then stood waiting for further orders. When Hux did not supply any, Kayfour spoke again. “If I may be so bold, sir, I have orders from you not to reveal anything you said or did while you were not yourself. But I have no such orders regarding the Supreme Leader.”  
Hux stared at Kayfour, his smile broadening into a grin. He leaned forward.  
“Really? Well then. Do tell.”


End file.
